Autumn Frost
by The Purple Kit-Kat
Summary: Mia is your average run-of-the-mill 14-year-old (not counting her artistic talent) who wants a better life for her mother. But her dreams are crushed before they are realized when she dies protecting some grade schoolers. When she comes around again, all she can remember is her name, a few other foggy names, and one person: Jack Frost. Eventual JackxOC, but don't hold your breath.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

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**(Author's Note)**

Hello everyone. As you may or may not know, I create OCs to sit in for myself so I can pretend that I am a part of whatever thing I created her for. In this case, it's Mia Martinez in the Rise Of The Guardians universe. If you want, you can put yourself in as Mia and make this a Jack Frost x Reader sort of thing, because that's pretty much the reason I created her in the first place.

Thank you very much for reading this. Second chapter posted soon(?) if you guys want.

Enjoy.

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**(Jack's POV)**

I'm flying all over the place. I had to. I had to clear my mind. After all, it wasn't my fault, what had happened. I didn't ask her to. I didn't do anything. She just did.

But what I don't understand is why I'm still freaking out about this.

* * *

**Flashback**

I was bored. How could I not be? There was literally nothing to do. Jamie and his family went on vacation so there was really nothing to be done. Deciding I was too antsy to stay put, I started flying around, past window. . .after window. . .after window. . .but one window caught my eye. I flew back around and peeked in.

There was a girl in there, asleep, with her entire body minus her head tucked under the covers. She was turned so that I couldn't see her face and her (rather long) hair was fanned out behind her like branches of a weeping willow. I was a bit torn - I wanted to go inside to see her face but I also wanted to just sit here and watch. Then she rolled over and I forgot about everything.

Her eyes were a vibrant green with a bit of hazel in the middle, and the reason I could tell is because they were looking straight at me. I could feel her gaze burning my skin. This surprised me so much that I sort of fell into her room. The second I hit the carpet, I was on my feet and she was sitting up, still staring at me.

The first thing I heard her say was "Jack Frost."

I froze. How could she know my name? Could she see me? I didn't know, so I asked her.

"Can you - can you see me?"

"I see you. I can see everything."

"What?"

"I see the Bunny going around on Easter. I see North zip through houses on Christmas. I see Tooth taking my brother's teeth and leaving him gifts. I see Sandy just before I sleep. And I see you all the time. I see you leaving the frost on my window every morning. I see your work when I walk to school. I see you spreading the ice each day and I know where it is slippery. I can see." She paused. "And now you have come to visit me. Why?"

"Uh," I said, a little more than uncomfortable. "I think it was an accident, but. . ."

The green-and-hazel eyes kept staring at me.

". . . but I was drawn to this place," I admitted at last.

Suddenly her eyes exploded into stars. Without warning, she leapt from her bed and tackled me into a tight hug. I have been hugged before, by Jamie, but this was something else by a long shot. First, she was a girl, and second, she was fourteen years old. So I'm sure you can understand why I was more than a little surprised when she did what she did.

Just as soon as she had hugged me, she loosened her grip. She looked like a little girl, with her eyes a-shimmer with excitement, and suddenly I understood. She may be a teen, but she had never grown up internally at all. It also helped that I was taller than her.

Discomfort coursed through my veins and caused me to squirm. The second I did, she dropped her arms to her sides and took a miniscule step back. And then I was out of there. I couldn't stand another minute of this confusion. How? Why? How? Why?

As I flew through the clouds, I realized my heart was racing. I put this aside, thinking it was from the adrenaline of flying out so fast.

But it wasn't.

* * *

**(Girl POV)**

Watching him leave, that was depressing. I knew I probably shouldn't have hugged him, but I was just so happy to see him there that I couldn't help myself. He left so fast I never got to tell him that I'm Mia and would he like to come again soon..?

Jack Frost, huh? He's everything I thought he'd be, right down to the cold skin and his reaction to my hug. Although, his departure was a bit unexpected. Confused? Yeah.

My chest is hammering like a bass drum suddenly decided to be a snare drum. That's weird. I wasn't expecting that.

The hammering is getting painful. I clutch at my chest, confused. Why is my pulse so out of control? I don't know. I hardly know anything. Ha. Silly me.

Well, it's getting really late. I should get to sleep now.

Goodnight.

* * *

**(Normal POV)**

When Mia woke up in the morning via alarm clock, the first thing she saw was - well, first she saw pillow. She must have rolled over in her sleep after Jack Frost's little visit last night. But on second thought, she rolled around in her sleep anyways, so why was she thinking about it?

Now fully awake, she tumbled out of bed and went to her door. Her hair was probably a little more than a rat's nest right now, but she honestly did not care so early in the morning. Mia usually started caring about it around the time she had to get going to school.

It was dark in the hall, which meant her mother wasn't awake yet. She got up at six o'clock sharp every morning and left an hour later for work while Mia herself woke at around six thirty or seven on a normal day, maybe seven thirty on Wednesdays.

But this wasn't a normal day. Definitely not a Wednesday, either. Mia had pulled a new record in wake-up time: it was five AM.

Okay, maybe she was a little tired, but as was said earlier, this was not a normal day. There was stuff to be accomplished and she needed the time to do them! And it had to be done in quiet. Her mom was busy today so she needed her rest as much as possible. Besides, if Mia succeeded, she wouldn't have to work that crummy old odd-jobs service she ran any longer!

The computer monitor was on screensaver, meaning Mom was trying yet again to find another job that would sustain the two of them better late into the night. A few joggles of the mouse and the machine was up and running, the light of the desktop blinding her.

A Skype chat bubble popped up silently (Mia had turned off the sound) bearing a message from "MissKhakiJeans":

**MissKhakiJeans:** hey r u up yet

Mia smirked. Her best friend should know better than to doubt her waking-up skills. She typed a reply:

**Bookpainter:** of course i am fool. ;) Is it all set up?

**MissKhakiJeans:** are you doubting me? I think you are! how could you! It's been done since yesterday.

**Bookpainter:** alright. you know i appreciate your help on this.

**MissKhakiJeans:** ohhh you'd better.

just kidding. What are cupcake buddies for?

**Bookpainter:** i can't believe you still hang on to that.

**MissKhakiJeans:** hey, that cupcake sealed the deal! I wouldn't be doing this if it weren't for that sweet, delicious pastry confection from heaven.

**Bookpainter:** We've shared like 12 cupcakes since then.

**MissKhakiJeans:** no, we've only shared 8.

**Bookpainter:** did you really take the time to count all of them.

**MissKhakiJeans:** mmmmmmmmmmmaybe.

**Bookpainter:** oh, never mind you. We have stuff to do.

**MissKhakiJeans:** right! On to the world of midnight cramming!

Are you sure about this, mia? This seems awfully big, especially for you.

Mia didn't reply for a little while. She fingered the keyboard absentmindedly before continuing:

**Bookpainter:** of course, jules. This is important for me, and my mom.

Plus it's not midnight. And we aren't cramming.

**MissKhakiJeans:** okay if that's what you want.

And I knew that already.

And for the next hour or so, the two girls, via Skype, worked tirelessly on the project they had woken up so early to complete.

So at 6:10 that morning, when Mia's mother came out of the shower to start up her coffee maker, she found her daughter facedown on the couch and the computer turned off, which it rarely was ever.

Quietly, she crept over to the girl's side and gave her a gentle poke. "Mia?"

The brunette turned her head slowly and looked at her mother with those mesmerizing green-and-hazel eyes of hers. "Morning, Mom. Sorry for this. I've been busy. . ." She trailed off for a yawn. "I'll just. . . for a little bit longer. . ." and she was asleep.

Silence in the house for a little bit, and then Mom let out a soft chuckle. "And you say I'm the one who overworks myself."

Hair still dripping, Mia's mom decided to pile all the couch cushions on top of her snoozing girl and put an alarm next to her ear set for 7:00. Even all-day worker moms had to have some fun occasionally.

At 6:50 AM, instead of leaving with her usual smile, Hazel Martinez walked out the door with a mischievous smirk as she imagined Mia's reaction to her mother's little wake-up call. It morphed back into a grin again, though, when she saw that Mia had put a little note in her usual coffee cup, tucked into the sleeve.

Have a nice day, Mom!

-XOXO Mia

_Awww,_ she thought,_ how sweet_.

She hummed the rest of the drive to her latest client's location.

* * *

Mia had just discovered new respect for the phrase "rude awakening." Obviously this had been her mother's idea of a good joke.

Well, at least it had woken her up.

When the alarm had gone off at seven AM, the annoying RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNG sound went directly into Mia's unprepared ear and freaked her out so much that she had lashed out violently with a yelp and had ended up getting avalanched with couch cushions. Mia had not really wanted to know what the fabric of an old pillow tasted like, but oh well.

Mia had decided that if she got what she was aiming for, the first thing she would do is get better-tasting pillows. That way, if her mom decided to pull that off again, she wouldn't be bothered by the taste of lint and old, dormant-cloth smell stuck in her mouth.

Mia just remembered that she was about to be late. There was much scrambling and then she nearly left the house without her jacket, she was moving so fast.

She set record time in getting to school that morning. She had gotten there so quickly she was early, instead of late like she would have been.

Well, thought Mia, isn't today so full of surprises.

And I also just realized that my ear is still ringing.

Thanks a lot, Mom.

* * *

**(Author's Note)**

So that's the end of this story's chapter. Hope you enjoyed, please review because I would like to improve my pieces. Tips are also appreciated. Tell me if you like it or not, so I can decide if I want to keep up with this.

Please stay with me till the end!

**- PKK**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

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**Author's Note:** Hullo again. Nice to see that you've kept on with me! Sorry this took forever to update. Writing this is hard sometimes; for some reason I keep making blockades for myself while I write. Heh. Silly me.

Once again, please enjoy.

* * *

When Mia arrived at her locker, there was a stylish young blonde waiting in front of it. She looked somewhere between steamed and exasperated, and Mia was pretty sure those emotions were directed at her.

They were.

"Mia!" she scolded as she came close enough to touch her. "What kept you? I was here as soon as the school allows people to come! Why weren't you? I would have thought that you'd be here sooner than I was but no! You had to be Miss Lazy Pants today! And what's the deal with that mane of yours? If I knew you would come looking like that - "

"JULIE!" Mia let loose all her exhaustion in her yell. The few students who were milling about in the halls stopped cold and stared at them both, but Mia didn't care one smidgimeter. "Sorry for apparently steaming your patience but my mom decided to play a prank on me this morning so SORRY. Now let's get going and I'll tell you on the way."

"All right. But you have to let me do your hair!"

"No. I'm doing my usual hairstyle."

"Fine." The two started down the hall.

Julie was quiet for a little bit. Then she said softly, "If our work doesn't come to fruit - fruish - ugh! If our work doesn't pay off, then what'll you do?"

Mia's lips tightened slightly. Typical of Julie to think of something like that. "I . . . " - she drew out the sound - ". . . really honestly do not know, nor do I care."

As they walked, Mia pulled her barely cooperative hair back into her usual waist-length French braid. She was so used to this action that by the time they had reached their first class, she was just tying it off with one of Julie's many available hair ties. At the moment they were both griping about the hair tie that was currently wound up in Mia's hair, as they had both forgotten about Mia's promise to explain everything. They lived their life in the moment, so this was also an everyday occurrence.

"Are you sure there wasn't any other stretchies that you could have given me?"

"I just like the way this one suits you!"

"It is a bear head. With a bow on its ear. And it is pink. PINK."

"Oh, is it even possible to please you?"

"Yes, actually it is very easy to please me. In fact the easiest way to please me

right now is to get me a hair tie that is, say, normal, and totally not pink and bear-covered?"

"Miss Martinez! Miss Robinson! How long are you planning to waste classtime?"

Whoops. Pissed off teacher equals not good. Both girls scrambled into their seats without a moment's hesitation. Their home room instructor was not one to tangle with.

Several long, tasteless hours later, and lunchtime rolled around at last. Julie and Mia clumped up and discussed their day so far:

"So in bio today, the new kid, you know Brandon? He was my lab partner and he totally freaked out when he spilled the dry ice pitcher and he practically hugged me, he was so scared!"

"I was in Spanish, right? And this weird kid with an almost-mohawk came busting through the door like ten minutes late asking if this was the Japanese class - "

"But that's like halfway across the school!"

"I know! So when the teacher told him that, he sighed and was like, 'Forget it! I'll just stay here today. Never mind!'"

After another bundle of bland hours on a plastic seat, both girls were home free!

"What are we going to do now?" came Julie's voice as soon as the two met up in the hallway. "All the business stuff is taken care of, so what next?"

"Well, I guess the only thing we can do is wait and see," Mia replied as casually as she knew how. Which was indeed very casual. Casualness was required if you had to lie to your mother every week about how those pastries managed to find their way into their tiny refrigerator.

"I've got a date after school today," Julie mused. She was always going out with some boy or another. "Can you Skype me at like five or something?"

"Sure thing, Jules." Mia pulled the pink bear scrunchie away from her mousy brown hair and handed it to the blonde, saying, "I snagged a rubber band from Mr. Applewhite today, so here." She re-tied her braid with said band while Julie snapped the pink elastic onto her wrist like a bracelet.

They paused, not knowing what else to mention. Then Julie smiled and the awkwardness shattered into glass, which turned to sand blowing away in the wind.

"See you at five," they called in unison as they turned around and walked off in opposite directions.

Several blocks later, Mia stopped in front of her two-story apartment building and sighed softly. It was small and rather rundown and the landlord was too old to care much about what became of it. Mia's mother believed in the saying "those who help others help themselves as well" religiously, so they were constantly giving gifts to the landlord and helping keep the place functional and presentable.

So basically, the place belonged to her.

Mia hiked up the metal steps grudgingly, key in hand and very aware of the bulging weight in her backpack that she would have to return to school the next day completed and covered in pencil marks. Once inside, she went about opening all the windows in the stuffy rooms before plunking herself down in front of her desk which was pretty much a slab of smoothed and stained wood stacked on top of some bricks made by her dad, a carpenter. It had been the perfect size when she was little, but now it was pretty much a lap desk.

Mia's stomach complained loudly, but she always waited until her mother was home to eat, so she controlled her grumpy intestines with a drink of water before getting to the inventory of her overweight backpack. She unzipped the thing, removed its insides, and dumped the content all over her desk.

* * *

**Several hours later**

* * *

Mia lay on her back gazing absentmindedly up at the ceiling fan that took up a rather large part of her ceiling. It had been around 12:30 the last time she had checked the clock, and she didn't even know how long it had been since then. Honestly she didn't want to know.

Even though the windows were all open, it was still stuffy in the little room, so the fan was on. Mia's eyes were glued to a knot in the wood on one of the blades and they followed it around and around and around in circles. She was supposed to be thinking of an answer to the last problem of her impossible math homework, but as always she lost her concentration and so here she was, watching it go around and around and around. . . .

There were golden sparkles in the corners of her vision as she drifted off. A slight breeze brushed her skin, sending goosebumps leaping up to catch the cold. She smiled gently.

"Goodnight, Sandman. . ."

* * *

**Jack's POV**

* * *

I grinned as I watched the golden sand work its magic on the girl. I swept up close to her window, turned, and flashed a thumbs-up at the Sandman, who smiled and waved goodbye before leaving to give dreams to more children. "Thanks, Sandy!"

Once Sandy was out of sight, I came in to land inside her window. She was already asleep, so the sand leaped around her head, trying to create pleasant dreams for the girl. But for now, it lapped around shapelessly. Chuckling, I crouched down in mid-air next to her. She was, as I said, asleep, so she couldn't hear me when I spoke.

Or so I thought.

"Who are you, believer?"

The dream-sand swirled faster and faster until it created words:

_Mia Martinez is pleased to meet you_

I frowned. "Mia?"

_That's my name, don't wear it out ;)_

I let one eyebrow crawl upwards. "Can you hear me, Mia? You're asleep."

_I know that, dum-dum_

Both of my eyebrows dropped like storm clouds. "Hey!"

_Hee-hee. You are funny, Jack Frost._

"Uh. . . thanks?"

_Why are you here, Jack Frost?_

"Ooh, harsh. Maybe I'm just visiting because I can, ever think of that?"

_Well, maybe. How are you tonight?_

"Pretty good, I guess." I let myself drop down onto her floor and sat cross-legged there. "And how about you?"

_Sleepy. Zzz. . ._

"Obviously, since you're sleeping and all."

_That's true. Hehehe._

"Yeah." A sudden curiosity crossed my mind, and before I could stop my mouth, it blurted, "So how come you can have a conversation like this while you're asleep?"

I received no reply for a while. I was about to apologize and drop the subject, but before I could, Mia rolled over so her back was facing me and spelled out: _Did you know, Jack Frost, that my mother is also a believer?_

"What? No way." I was dumbfounded. An adult believer? Was that even possible?

_Yep. It's one of the reasons why we live here, in this place. She was always an idealist from the beginning . . . I guess that's why I can see you too._

"Oh. Okay, then."

Mia rolled over again, this time towards me. _You should get going now. My mom won't be pleased to see some random albino teen looking like he's about to do something suggestive to her 'widdle baby Mi-mi.'_

I couldn't help but laugh. "'Widdle baby Mi-mi?' Is that what she calls you?"

_Unfortunately, yes. Now get going or you're gonna to get caught!_

"Sure thing, Snowflake." I hopped over to her still-wide-open window and crouched on the sill. "I'll see you later, _widdle baby Mi-mi._"

_Please don't make this harder than it has to be. Now really, you have to GO!_

"Okay, okay, I'm going! Sheesh, keep your skirt on, alright?"

_I'm not wearing a skirt._

"Whatever. Bye!" And with that, I jumped out the window with a laugh and let the wind carry me to who knows where.

* * *

**Author's note:** A little bit on the short side, I know. And I'm sorry. It seemed like a good place to end the chapter . . . anyways, I've finally gotten over my writer's block for this fic! I know it's been a really long time, but please bear with me! Don't leave me alone in the dark! I'll give you a brownie if you do!

No seriously. I will.

-PKK


End file.
